Incredible String Band

Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Born October 2, 1945

Christina Licorice McKechnie

Limelight

Being in the limelight is not necessarily something one wants for their whole life. Despite the curiosity that fans may continue to have, the limelighted person may prefer to let the glare go away.

Such is seemingly the case with Christina Licorice McKechnie. A member of the Incredible String Band and with them when they performed at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, little if anything is known about her currently with any certainty.

Christina Licorice McKechnie

Edinburgh

McKechnie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on October 2, 1945. In the early 1960s she met Robin Williamson, one of the founding members of the Incredible String Band. She left home with the intention of marrying Bert Jansch, another British folk musician who became a revered leader of the British folk scene.

The wedding never took place.

McKechnkie rejoined Wiliamson and in 1966 she traveled to Morocco him. She became a member of the Incredible String Band performing mainly as a backing vocalist and percussionist.

We can hear her especially on the song “Painting Box.”

She left the band in 1972 when she and Robin Williamson parted ways.

Christina Licorice McKechnie

Woodstock

I wish I could say more about their Woodstock performance. They were scheduled to play on Friday with the other folk-based performers, but the disrupted scene forced the festival’s organizers to postpone ISR’s performance to the far more loudly electric Saturday.

It was late that afternoon and friend Tony and I were getting hungry, not having eaten anything since Friday dinner. ISB’s performance slot seemed like a good time to search for some sustenance at the Food for Love concessions. No food and little love. And no Licorice.

Christina Licorice McKechnie

Mystery

Her current status is a mystery. Some say they saw her hitchhiking in California decades ago. She is assumed dead by many who say they should have heard from her but haven’t. Others say that they have heard from her and she prefers anonymity.

The Incredible String Band occupies an interesting piece of the 60s I was familiar with their music thanks to FM radio, Many find their music inaccessible, but with a bit of time and attention, I find most of the Band’s compositions wonderful.

Black History

”SCOTTSBORO BOYS”

October 2, 1932: American Legion members helped Los Angeles police break up a rally of 1,000 people at the Long Beach Free Speech Zone, who were supporting defendants in the famous Scottsboro case. Two people were arrested in the incident on this day, which was one of 11 political meetings reportedly broken up by LA police in 1932, often with assistance of the American Legion. (see Scottsboro Travesty)

Isaac Woodard Jr

On February 12, 1946 former U.S. Army Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr. was on a Greyhound Lines bus traveling from Camp Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, where he had been discharged, en route to rejoin his family in North Carolina. When the bus reached a rest stop just outside of Augusta, Woodard asked the bus driver if there was time for him to use a restroom.

The bus stopped in Batesburg (now Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina), near Aiken. Though Woodard had caused no disruption, the driver contacted the local police (including Chief of Police Linwood Shull), who forcibly removed Woodard from the bus. After demanding to see his discharge papers, a number of policemen, including Shull, took Woodard to a nearby alleyway, where they beat him repeatedly with nightsticks. They then took Woodard to the town jail and arrested him for disorderly conduct, accusing him of drinking beer in the back of the bus with other soldiers. (BH, see Oct 22; see Woodward for expanded story)

Savannah, Ga

October 2, 1963: Savannah, Ga., desegregated its lunch counters, theaters and restaurants. The decision followed months of marches and boycotts. [Savannah Now article] (see Oct 7)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

October 2, 1986: the US Senate overrode President Reagan’s veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act and the bill became a law. [NYT article] (see June 13, 1988)

George Whitmore, Jr

October 2, 1988: The New York Times published an article by Selwyn Raab, who interviewed Richard Robles in light of a forthcoming pardon hearing. Raab quoted Robles as saying that he broke into the Wylie-Hoffert apartment believing no one was home. He was looking for money to support his $15-a-day heroin habit, but when he encountered Wylie he raped her. Then he bound her and was preparing to leave when Hoffert came home. He took $30 from her purse and bound her as well. As he again prepared to leave, Hoffert said, “I”m going to remember you for the police. You”re going to jail.” When she said that, Robles continued, “I just went bananas. My head just exploded. I got to kill. You”re mind just races and races. It’s almost like you”re not you.” He said he clubbed both women unconscious with pop bottles, then slashed and stabbed them with knives he found in their kitchen. (see George Whitmore for expanded story)

Amadou Diallo

October 2, 2012: more than 13 years after the police shooting of Amadou Diallo, Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly agreed to restore a service weapon to Kenneth Boss, one of the four New York City officers involved, a decision that Mr. Diallo’s mother characterized as a betrayal. [NYT article] (see Oct 8)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Marijuana

Samuel R. Caldwell

October 2, 1937: the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act had gone into effect on October 1, 1937 and this date, the FBI and Denver, Colorado police raided the Lexington Hotel and arrested Samuel R. Caldwell, 58, an unemployed laborer and Moses Baca, 26.

On Oct. 5, Caldwell went into the history trivia books as the first marijuana seller convicted under U.S. federal law. His customer, Baca, was found guilty of possession.

Caldwell was sentenced to four years of hard labor in Leavenworth Penitentiary, plus a $1,000 fine. Baca received 18 months incarceration. Both men served every day of their sentence.

A year after Caldwell was released from prison, he died. [Trend article]

LaGuardia Report

In 1944: In 1938, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had requested that the New York Academy of Medicine conduct an investigation of marijuana.

The 1944 report, titled “The Marihuana Problem in the City of New York,” but commonly referred to as the “LaGuardia Report,” concludes that many claims about the dangers of marijuana are exaggerated or untrue. It read in part: “The practice of smoking marihuana does not lead to addiction in the medical sense of the word… The use of marihuana does not lead to morphine or heroin or cocaine addiction and no effort is made to create a market for these narcotics by stimulating the practice of marihuana smoking… Marihuana is not the determining factor in the commission of major crimes… The publicity concerning the catastrophic effects of marihuana smoking in New York City is unfounded.” (next marijuana, see August 31, 1948)

Starbucks Workers Union

October 2, 2007: Starbucks Workers Union baristas at an outlet in East Grand Rapids, Mich., organized by the Wobblies, win their grievances after the National Labor Relations Board cites the company for labor law violations, including threats against union activists. (see Nov 5)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

1960s World Series

LA v NY

October 2 – 6, 1963: the 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion N Y Yankees against the L A Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years. The World Series Most Valuable Player Award went to Sandy Koufax, who started two of the four games and had two complete game victories. [Bleacher Report article]

St Louis v Detroit

October 2 – 10, 1968: St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning in seven games. [Wikipedia article]

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

October 2 Music et al

Cultural Milestone & Roots of Rock

October 2, 1967,: DJ Rosko of WOR-FM, the first NYC FM station to play rock music, resigned over corporate interference with his choices of music. (”When are we going to learn that controlling something does not take it out of the minds of people?” and declaring, ”In no way can I feel that I can continue my radio career by being dishonest with you.”

He added that he would rather return to being a men’s-room attendant. (CM, see Oct 3; RR, see Oct 7)

Grateful Dead

October 2, 1967: all six members of The Grateful Dead were busted by California narcotics agents for possession of marijuana at the groups’ 710 Ashbury Street House in San Francisco. (see January 31, 1970)

Don Cornelius

October 2, 1971: Don Cornelius began Soul Train. He will host the show until 1993 and introduce to mainstream TV many Black artists who otherwise would not have had a TV forum. (BH, see Nov 2; DC, see March 25, 2006)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS & Ryan White

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Clinton Impeachment

Clinton announces

October 2, 1991: Bill Clinton announced he would seek the 1992 Democratic nomination for President.

Starr investigation

October 2, 1998: the House Judiciary Committee releases another 4,610 pages of supporting material from Ken Starr’s investigation, including transcripts of grand jury testimony and transcripts of the Linda Tripp-Monica Lewinsky tapes. (see Clinton for expanded story)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Operation Gothic Serpent

October 2, 1993: U.S. Army conducted Operation Gothic Serpent in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia using Task Force Ranger.

Two UH-60 Blackhawks were shot down and the operation left over 1000 Somalians dead and over 73 Americans WIA, 19 KIA, and 1 captured. [World Atlas article]

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ II

October 2, 2002: the US Congress passed a joint resolution, which authorized the President to use the Armed Forces as he deems necessary and appropriate, against Iraq. [Text of resolution](see Oct 16)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

October 2, 2014: a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans sided with Texas in its yearlong legal battle over its sweeping abortion law and allowed the state to enforce one of the law’s toughest provisions while the case was being appealed.Thirteen abortion clinics in Texas were forced to close immediately.

The ruling gave Texas permission to require all abortion clinics in the state to meet the same building, equipment and staffing standards as hospital-style surgical centers, standards that abortion providers said were unnecessary and costly, but that the state argued improved patient safety.

Thirteen clinics whose facilities did not meet the new standards were to be closed overnight, leaving Texas — a state with 5.4 million women of reproductive age, ranking second in the country — with eight abortion providers, all in Houston, Austin and two other metropolitan regions. No abortion facilities wouldl be open west or south of San Antonio. [NYT article] (BC, see Oct 14; Texas, see June 27, 2016)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Vatican

October 2, 2015: the Vatican said that Pope Francis’s encounter with Kim Davis, which was interpreted by many as a subtle intervention in the United States’ same-sex marriage debate, was part of a series of meetings with dozens of guests and did not amount to an endorsement of her view. Ms. Davis was among the guests ushered into the Vatican’s embassy for a brief meeting with him, the Vatican said.

“The pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis, and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said in a statement. [Rolling Stone article] (see Nov 2)

Same-sex/diplomats

October 2, 2018: US State Department officials said that the Trump administration would no longer issue family visas to same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats or employees of international organizations who work in the United States.

It also applied to people working in the US for the United Nations, the World Bank, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and other groups. [NYT article] (see Oct 21)

October 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

October 2, 2018: according to a report issued by the Office of Inspector General, the watchdog agency for the Dept of Homeland Security, the DHS was not prepared to implement the policy which directed the government to criminally prosecute immigrant parents—and separate them from their children—once they crossed the United States-Mexico border, nor was the agency ready to deal with the program’s fallout.

And not only did Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hold immigrant children for extended periods of time in cells intended for short-term detention, but the DHS struggled to identify, track and reunite separated families, according to the report. [Colorlines article] (see Oct 15)